On September 22nd, NASA introduced the newly selected 10 astronauts to the public: they stood out from more than 8,000 applicants, including 6 women and 4 men, and the number of women exceeded that of men for the first time.
The Associated Press quoted Sean Duffy, acting director of NASA, as saying that a new group of astronauts may become one of the first American astronauts to land on Mars in the future.
These astronauts need to undergo two years of training to obtain the "induction" qualification. This is the 24th batch of astronauts selected by NASA since 1959. The last batch of astronauts was "recruited" in 2021. So far, only 370 people have passed NASA's astronaut selection, including 41 active astronauts.
Noam Knight, an official in charge of astronaut training at NASA, said astronaut selection procedures were strict and the candidates were “foolish.”
The new group of astronauts included geologists who had participated in the NASA’s “Curiosity” Mars Project, engineers at the American Space Exploration Technology Company, and several military pilots. Air Force Major Adam Fulman received a phone call at the height of traffic evening to find out he was selected as an astronaut. He rushed out of the road and parked at the parking lot “confirmed no mistake.”
Anna Menon, who was selected this year, is an engineer at Space Exploration Technology Company. In September last year, she went into space on a Dragon spacecraft as a member of the company's commercial manned project, and was the first person to go into space before passing the NASA astronaut selection. Her husband, Anil, was previously selected as a NASA astronaut, as a doctor who had participated in the Space Exploration Technology Company's Space Project (Central Video News).